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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bass — the fish
  6. degree — an amount
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pitch — completely
  10. bass — low music
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. branch — a division
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. pitch — a sales talk

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com